April 28
KYRGYZSTAN:
Bakiyev calls for abolition of death penalty in Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan must abolish the death penalty and consider double
naturalization, acting president Kurmanbek Bakiyev said at a
constitutional conference in Bishkek on Thursday.
"I suggest that we consider exclusion of the death penalty clause from the
constitution and its replacement with a lifetime sentence," he said.
"Bearing in mind integration processes and labor migration in the
republic, we must review constitutional clauses, which ban double
citizenship," he said. "The strict non-acceptance of double citizenship
prevents Kyrgyzstan from finding an efficient solution to integration
problems and from protecting of our citizens' rights in other countries,"
he said.
(source: Interfax)
AUSTRALIA:
Canberra Condemned Over Death Penalty Case
Australia abolished the death penalty in 1973, but its government is under
fire for helping Indonesia catch nine suspected Australian heroin
smugglers who could face a firing squad on the Indonesian island of Bali.
The fate of the so-called Bali Nine has been splashed all over Australian
papers since their arrests earlier this month and is casting a shadow over
a new era of cooperation between Australian and Indonesian police that
dawned after deadly 2002 bombings on the holiday island.
Civil libertarians say that Australian Federal Police involvement in the
investigation that led to the arrests and a decision to allow the suspects
to be detained in Indonesia rather than Australia is tantamount to
throwing the alleged traffickers to a Bali court that could order them
executed if they are convicted.
"If these Australians are put before a firing squad, it will be because
the AFP helped to put them there," Cameron Murphy, President of the New
South Wales state Council of Civil Liberties, said in a statement. "It is
not appropriate for Australian taxpayers' money to be used to put people
in front of firing squads."
Indonesian police said Wednesday the nine would likely face the death
penalty. Four of the suspects were caught as they prepared to fly to
Australia, allegedly with packets of heroin strapped to their bodies. Five
others were arrested elsewhere in Bali.
Several of the suspects had made repeated trips to Bali, some traveling on
false passports, Indonesian police say. Australian officials said Thursday
that one of them had worked temporarily in an Australian passport office
in 2000.
Had the suspects been allowed to board the plane and picked up by police
in Sydney, they would have faced at worst a lengthy prison term if
convicted.
Justice Minister Chris Ellison defended Canberra's actions, saying
Australian police battling to stamp out terrorism in the country's Asian
neighbors must respect legislation in other jurisdictions - and that
includes many that still have the death penalty.
"At the end of the day this investigation is being conducted in Indonesian
jurisdiction," Ellison told Australian Broadcasting Corp. "The crime is
alleged to have occurred on Indonesian soil."
Cooperation between Australia and Indonesia has intensified dramatically
since the Oct. 12, 2002, Bali bombings that killed 202 people, including
88 Australians. Australian federal agents work closely with their
Indonesian counterparts to investigate attacks like last year's deadly
bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta and to hunt down terror
cells.
The last person executed in Australia was murderer Ronald Ryan in 1967.
Canberra refuses to extradite suspects to other countries unless it gets
guarantees they will not face the death penalty.
Ellison also said that the government would appeal for clemency if the
nine alleged smugglers are sentenced to death.
(source: Associated Press)
